The Betty White Show (1977–1978)

The exploits of hack TV actress Joyce Whitman, star of the fictitious "Undercover Woman" series.

Creators:

Stan Daniels, Ed. Weinberger

Stars:

Betty White, John Hillerman, Georgia Engel

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Betty White	...	Joyce Whitman (14 episodes, 1977-1978)
John Hillerman	...	John Elliot (14 episodes, 1977-1978)
Georgia Engel	...	Mitzi Maloney (14 episodes, 1977-1978)
Alex Henteloff	...	Doug Porterfield (14 episodes, 1977-1978)
Barney Phillips	...	Fletcher Huff (14 episodes, 1977-1978)
Charles Cyphers	...	Hugo Muncy (14 episodes, 1977-1978)
Caren Kaye	...	Tracy Garrett (13 episodes, 1977-1978)

Storyline

Over-the-hill TV actress Joyce Whitman is the star of a bad network crime drama "Undercover Woman". Acting in such an awful series is bad enough; being directed by her acerbic ex-husband John is even worse. Her roommate is a dizzy blonde named Mitzi, and she's frequently forced to deal with fussbudget network executive Doug.

---

Plot Keywords:

divorce | sitcom

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 1977 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

MTM Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (13 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

The original opening of the series began as the opening of "Undercover Woman," the show-within-the-show. After a few minutes of stereotypical police action (gunplay, car chases, etc.), the camera drew back to reveal this was on a TV screen and Betty White was sitting on the sofa watching it. The real series title then displayed. Apparently this confused many viewers because after a few episodes, the opening now began with Betty on the sofa, then panned to the police action on the TV screen.

---

Connections

Follows Mary Tyler Moore (1970)

User Reviews

The Betty White Show

Although this show only lasted 13 episodes I really liked,it,Betty White is great as Joyce Whitman,the actress with the razor sharp tongue,who puts her ex husband John(John Hillerman)in his place when they work together on police series "Undercover Woman". Former Mary Tyler Moore Show c/o star Georgia Engel,plays a similar dizzy role(similar to Georgette) in this as Mitzi and credit to the cast for giving such strong comedic performance,it was a shame the scripts weren't as strong. I think the fact that the pilot for this show was shown as part of "The Best Of The MTM Shows" proves what a strong pilot the show had. There had been some thought to giving Sue-Ann from the MTMS her own spin off but after Chloris Leachman's Phylllis was toned down for her spin off "Phyllis",to only last 2 seasons,"The Betty White Show" came up and although a short run,is very funny and witty.